Beautiful Basketball, and Dancing Diamonds!!!

[Learning Diamonds]

Hello from Bulldog country!! (Indiana - home of the Butler University Bulldogs!! sorry, I'm an alum and very proud of our team making it to the NCAA Mens Basketball Sweet 16!!!!)
Guys, I realize most of you probably get pretty tired of people visiting this site, and asking for opinions on stones...
Well, sorry, but I am going to be one of those people for once! (sorry!!) I have been visiting, and seeking bits of advice for the past couple of months, and after all the research, and late nights on the computer, I just purchased my stone this afternoon.. I would really appreciate your comments (good or bad) on the numbers of this Beautiful - (in my eyes!!) Princess!!

GIA certified
Square Modified Brilliant (Princess)
5.91*5.82*4.04 mm
Wht: 1.12 carat
Depth: 69.4%
Table 80%
Girdle: Thin to Slightly Thick
Cullet: NONE
Polish: GOOD
Symmetry: GOOD
Clarity: SI2 (pinpoint, no black ugly stuff!!)
Color: H
Flourescence: NONE
Price: (Here is the game, I want to see your guesses for this!)

I am truly happy with this stone, and it is beautiful to the eye, and even under the scope in my opininion!! I realize from this board, and many threads that with Fancy cuts it is often left to they eye to decide... I went with an SI2, because when it came down to it, with all the loose diamonds I was pondering over, it had the best of everything I was looking for...

Please, any comments would be great, I respect your knowledge, and opinions!!

Thanks everybody, and root for the Bulldogs in the tourney on Friday!!

 

[Learning Diamonds]

Wow, I can remember when I first started visiting this site, posts flying up on the board, ready to answer any questions, or offer any help... I guess I must have caught it at the beginning of it's existance!!

Sorry if I added to the "clutter" of this board with my quest for reassurance, or at least professional opinion!! I realize this must become a nusience!

Good night, I am tired, its been a long and eventfull day!!

 

[Mara]

Im sure people will chime in tomorrow, the board seems more busy in the mornings. Since this is a princess cut stone I can't offer too much info as I am more of a 'round' person, but the table does seem a bit large at 80% and the depth a bit shallow. However maybe this is one of those stones that looks larger than it is because of the spread, large table/shallow depth dimensions. It certainly can work that way with rounds, not sure about princesses.

Check out Dave Atlas's AGA chart on fancies at www.gemappraisers.com and click on 'Chart for Grading Fancies' or something like that. Look up the specs of your stone (use table and depth to find your best fit, using the other specs such as girdle and symm/polish to confirm that your stone fits in that grade) and find the cut grade that it corresponds to. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B are all very good cuts. 3A/3B is more of a typical cut stone (not super good, but not super bad) and the 4A/4B is your typical badly cut mall stone. I would focus your search within 1A-2B to get a well cut stone. Keep in mind that princess stones do not have the same 'standards' set as rounds do, so grading cut seems a bit harder than when looking at rounds, but use the AGA chart, and if you are looking at stones in person, get an IdealScope from ideal-scope.com to look at the stone underneath to gauge light return. You also should have the company run a Sarin report on the stone for you to get the angles of the crown and pavilion, this is important. Any other info they can give is always great.

For price--check out Pricescopes price engine, type in your specs (e.g. 80% table, 69% depth), H, SI2 and see what you find. Compare the price to your quote. If there is nothing matching your stone exactly, then try a slightly broader search (e.g. G/H SI1-SI2) to get as close as possible for a good comparison. The Pscope engine will be very helpful in determining price ranges for offline B&M stones.

That's all from me! good luck!

 

[Learning Diamonds]

Thx Mara - I love the picture by the way!!

I cant seem to find many online that have the same stats.. But it seems like similar stones are close to what I paid.. I feel much more comfortable with a B+M purchase, but thats not to say that I'd pass up an unbelievable online deal! I guess the main thing for me, is to be able to "play with it" if you know what I mean.. I am definitely a touchey feely person, and when I buy something.. well same thing!! I could drive myself nuts going over all the numbers, and to the best of my ability, I think I came up with something as close to the size color, and clarity that I was shooting for, while staying close (and supprisingly a bit under) my budget.. But, with a 30 day no-conditions return policy - I am very interested in feedback such as yours!

Thanks again!!

Nil